Man vs Wild host Bear Grylls opens up to RALPH.com.au about eating rats, snakes and bats all in the name of survival.
What did you do before this TV show?
I spent five years with the British Special Forces, and my job there was climbing, skydiving and combat survival. I then broke my back in a freefall accident and had to leave the army.
Sounds nasty. Have you always wanted to present your own show?
It was a kind of long road of recovery, but when we got back from a trip to Everest, Discovery heard about my background. They said, "Listen, could we do a show where we drop you in difficult places and you show us what you do to get out of there?"
I thought I don't want to be a TV host. But they kept saying, "Listen, we don't want a TV host. We just want you to show us what you do." I remember going on the first one, and I thought, well, let's try it, and it was a blast. It was everything that I love. We're shooting rapids, climbing cliffs and chasing snakes.
Sounds like a ball. What's been the worst ever food you have ever eaten?
I remember the goat testicles just melting into a mouthful of goat sperm, and that was a bad experience. As soon as I jump out of that helicopter or plane, I kind of switch a little bit in my head that I just need to get on and do it. There have been a lot of raw snakes, big scorpions, rats and camel intestinal fluids.
I found these huge whip scorpions down in this cave the other day. It was like a cross between giant tarantulas and scorpions, and you just think these sort of animals shouldn't exist, but yes, I just kind of close my eyes and open my mouth and get on with it.
Did you encounter any new critters in your time in China?
We got caught in a hurricane. It was one of the hardest shows we've ever done. It's probably one of the toughest episodes we've ever filmed, actually, but the last place in the world you want to be during a typhoon is in a jungle. It was like being on a battlefield.
There were trees just going, boom, boom, every few seconds, and we ended up kind of hiding in these old ammunition caves from the guerrilla soldiers that had been dug into the mud.
Was it a struggle hiding out in the ammunition caves?
I just stumbled across this place, and it was absolutely just full of bats. There were literally tens of thousands of them and they just started going mad. I raced out, made myself, like, a tennis racket out of some bamboo, got a big flaming bundle of fire, threw it down this cave and all the bats came screaming out.
I was just playing bat tennis, trying to catch these things. Caught a load of bats, made a hammock out of some bamboo, ate my bats, and set some rat traps. There are hundreds of rats around this cave as well and I caught one for breakfast the next day.
Did you eat the head of the rat?
Yes I did. I ate the brain out of it. It's a delicacy. I'm not sure why, but it's not very delicate and it's not very nice.
Do you perform any special physical training?
When I'm at home, I train every day. I run, I do circuits, a lot of yoga for my back and then I train in the skills. I do a lot of the acrobatic and climbing stuff. It's kind of like going to the office.
Are you ever concerned about your crew getting hurt?
I always think about telling the cameraman what to do, that's the way I look at it. From climbing, I go, "Listen, stick with me on this bit or watch out for the snake. He's not after you. He's just after the shade that your body's providing from the sand. Just move out of the way, and he'll come past you."
What's the craziest thing you have ever ate? Leave your comment below.
Man vs Wild: No Man's Land & Forces of Nature is available now on DVD. Man vs Wild: Extreme Terrains is available on DVD from March 10, 2010. Man vs Wild airs on SBS & Discovery Channel – check your local guides.
Super hot slideshows
RALPH ASMY heats
American Diner babes
News
2.7m sewer snake found in QLD toilet bowl
Health and Wellbeing
Hunks who have chunked up
